Assortment.AI vs SAS Merchandise Planning

Assortment.AI is the assortment intelligence layer of Vision Group’s retail intelligence platform. It lets teams model changes to product mix, shelf space, and merchandising before rollout, then compare scenarios across stores or regions using their own rules, limits, and goals. Forecasts cover revenue, volume, and holding capacity based on store-specific conditions. The system models how demand may shift when a product is added or removed, including transfers to other products or brands and the possibility of category exit. Its models use actual movement data, consumer decision trees, demand transfer rates, product data, and shelf constraints. Teams can develop recommendations by store cluster and send chosen strategies to Space.AI for planogram generation or to execution systems. Vision Group says decisions can inform Blue Yonder layouts and offers APIs for CPG brands to retrieve simulation outputs for analytics workflows. The product is available via web and API. Vision Group describes role-based access, audit trails with data provenance, enterprise data residency options, and explainable AI decisions; its architecture is described as SOC 2 aligned, with compliance documentation available by request. Pricing is on request, and the product page invites prospective customers to book a demo. Assortment Planning Optimisation is included in each deployment rather than offered as a separate module.

SAS Merchandise Planning has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.